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Broadcast TV Ratings for Thursday, October 4, 2007

CBS once again holds off ABC to take first place on the evening among households, viewers and adults 18-49. CSI remained ahead of Grey’s Anatomy as the night’s most-watched program among households and viewers, while Grey’s Anatomy took top honors among adults 18-49. Though both shows were still incredibly strong, they went through weekly declines, with CSI suffering the most.

In its second week on the air, Big Shots took a bit of a dive.

And in season premiere news, it certainly appears as if the Emmy win for 30 Rock had a great affect on that shows ratings. The series posted record high viewership among adults 18-49, earning a rating in the demo 17% higher than last year’s premiere, and even more impressive, a whopping 42% above where the show left off with this past April. The other season premiere, The CW’s Supernatural, didn’t fare as well, with a steep yearly decline among adults 18-49.

Full analysis after the jump.

CBS finished in first place for the evening with a 10.2/16 household rating/share, 16.47 million viewers and a 4.9/13 rating/share among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

11.3/18 HH rating [#1]

18.58M viewers [#1]

5.8/15 A18-49rating [#1]

8:00 p.m.: Survivor: China (8.5/14 HH rating/share, 14.07M viewers, 4.6/13 A18-49 rating/share) got things started for CBS. Though no longer the powerhouse it once was, Survivor continues to provide the network with strong and solid numbers. It was easily first place on the hour across the board.

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 8.3/14 to 8.5/14

Viewers – 14.14M to 14.07M

Adults 18-49 – 4.4/13 to 4.6/13

9:00 p.m.: CSI (12.8/19 HH rating/share, 20.81M viewers, 6.3/16 A18-49 rating/share) took a plunge in the second week of the new season, however it was still the nights most-watched series. Turns out the cliffhanger was quite effective last week, and that’s what accounted for the large increase from the season seven finale to season eight premiere. Week-to-week, the declines were 4.41 million/17%, 14% among households and 23% among adults 18-49.

Week-to-week numbers (eighth season premiere):

Households – 14.9/23 to 12.8/19

Viewers – 25.22M to 20.81M

Adults 18-49 – 8.2/19 to 6.3/16

10:00 p.m.: Without A Trace (9.4/16 HH rating/share, 14.54M viewers, 3.8/11 A18-49 rating/share) also lost some steam in week two, dropping 2.14 million/13% among viewers, 14% among households and 19% among adults 18-49.

Week-to-week numbers (sixth season premiere):

Households – 10.9/18 to 9.4/16

Viewers – 16.68M to 14.54M

Adults 18-49 – 4.7/13 to 3.8/11

ABC followed in second place for the evening with a 8.3/13 household rating/share, 12.19 million viewers and a 4.8/13 rating/share among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

9.4/15 HH rating [#2]

14.36M viewers [#2]

5.7/15 A18-49 rating [#2]

8:00 p.m.: Ugly Betty(6.6/11 HH rating/share, 9.78M viewers, 3.4/10 A18-49 rating/share) wasn’t off by too much in week two, but it certainly appears the show will never reach the extreme highs of the first half of season 1.

Week-to-week numbers (season two premiere):

Households – 7.3/12 to 6.6/11

Viewers – 11.16M to 9.78M

Adults 18-49 – 3.9/11 to 3.4/10

9:00 p.m.: Grey’s Anatomy (12.3/19 HH rating/share, 18.13M viewers, 7.4/18 A18-49 rating/share), like CSI, lost some audience from its premiere, but the viewer loss was less severe. Declines were at 2.80 million/13%, 7% among households and 16% among adults 18-49. It was still however the nights most-watched show on the evening among adults 18-49.

Week-to-week numbers (fourth season premiere):

Households – 13.2/20 to 12.3/19

Viewers – 20.93M to 18.13M

Adults 18-49 – 8.8/21 to 7.4/18

10:00 p.m.: Week two of new series Big Shots (6.1/10 HH rating/share, 8.66M viewers, 3.7/10 A18-49 rating/share) tumbled downward, shedding 2.44 million/22%, 19% among households and 18% among adults 18-49. With retention from its lead-in at a dismal 48% among viewers, 50% among households and 50% among adults 18-49, don’t expect ABC to keep the show in this slot for much longer.

Week-to-week numbers (series premiere):

Households – 7.5/13 to 6.1/10

Viewers – 11.10M to 8.66M

Adults 18-49 – 4.5/12 to 3.7/10

NBC finished in third place for the evening with a 5.3/9 household rating/share, 8.39 million viewers and a 3.8/10 rating/share among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

5.7/9 HH rating [#3]

9.37M viewers [#3]

4.3/11 A18-49 rating [#3]

8:00 p.m.: My Name Is Earl (5.1/9 HH rating/share, 8.00M viewers, 3.4/10 A18-49 rating/share) and the second season premiere of the Emmy winning comedy series 30 Rock (4.8/7 HH rating/share, 7.38M viewers, 3.4/9 A18-49 rating/share) did fairly well. First off, My Name Is Earl stayed mostly even from the week prior. The big news however came with the second season premiere of 30 Rock. The series obviously got a big boost from its Emmy win (and perhaps the Jerry Seinfeld guest appearance), and I couldn’t be more happy for it. Though it didn’t match last year’s opening levels for season one among households and viewers, it managed to grow among adults 18-49 (+17%). More importantly though, and an obvious example of the show overturning its ratings decline is its performance compared to last year’s finale. There was a substantial increase of 2.66 million/56% among viewers, 60% among households and 42% among adults 18-49. Looks like NBC () may have saved this series. Hopefully it doesn’t show an audience drop-off next week, and continues to hold firm at this levels. With 100% retention (note: finals show an increase from its lead-in) among adults 18-49, this is absolutely great performance.

My Name Is Earl

Week-to-week numbers (third season premiere – 8:00-9:00 p.m.):

Households – 5.3/9 to 5.1/9

Viewers – 8.66M to 8.00M

Adults 18-49 – 3.8/11 to 3.4/10

30 Rock

Season premiere comparison (Wednesday, October 11, 2006):

Households – 5.4/9 to 4.8/7

Viewers – 8.13M to 7.38M

Adults 18-49 – 2.9/8 to 3.4/9

Episode-to-episode numbers (season one finale – April 26, 2007):

Households – 3.0/5 to 4.8/7

Viewers – 4.72M to 7.38M

Adults 18-49 – 2.4/6 to 3.4/9

9:00 p.m.: The Office (5.0/8 HH rating/share, 8.49M viewers, 4.5/11 A18-49 rating/share) remained strong week-to-week. in total audience, with just a slight loss in viewership among households, but it took a bigger hit among viewers and adults 18-49. These are still very strong numbers though and it continues to rate extremely well among the younger demos (69% of the audience was within the A18-49 demographic).

Week-to-week numbers (fourth season premiere):

Households – 5.2/8 to 5.0/8

Viewers – 9.65M to 8.49M

Adults 18-49 – 5.1/12 to 4.5/11

10:00 p.m.: ER (6.1/10 HH rating/share, 9.00M viewers, 3.7/10 A18-49 rating/share) continues to show its age, but given the night overall for NBC, these are still solid numbers. It’s not what it used to be, but for a show in its 14th season, I really don’t think these numbers are all too poor. At least it continues to do well among A18-49, and it did grow from its lead-in among households (+22%) and viewers (+6%).

Week-to-week numbers (14th season premiere):

Households – 6.4/11 to 6.1/10

Viewers – 9.92M to 9.00M

Adults 18-49 – 4.1/11 to 3.7/10

Fox followed in fourth place for the evening with a 4.5/7 household rating/share, 7.15 million viewers and a 2.1/5 among adults 18-49 rating/share.

Last Week:

4.2/7 HH rating [#4]

6.37M viewers [#4]

1.9/5 A18-49 rating [#4]

8:00 p.m.: Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? (5.4/9 HH rating/share, 8.53M viewers, 2.3/7 A18-49 rating/share) performed a good deal better than last week with growth of 1.05/14% among viewers, 15% among households and 10% among adults 18-49.

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 4.7/8 to 5.4/9

Viewers – 7.48M to 8.53M

Adults 18-49 – 2.1/6 to 2.3/7

9:00 p.m.: Don’t Forget the Lyrics! (3.7/6 HH rating/share, 5.78M viewers, 1.8/4 A18-49 rating/share) was however mostly even from the week prior. The competition in the 9:00 p.m. hour is just too intense for a show of this nature. I think it’s safer if Fox were to limit this show to just summer runs.

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 3.5/5 to 3.7/6

Viewers – 5.32M to 5.78M

Adults 18-49 – 1.8/4 to 1.8/4

The CW was left then in fifth place earning a 2.4/4 household rating/share, 3.76 million viewers and a 1.5/4 rating/share among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

2.4/4 HH rating [#5]

3.80M viewers [#5]

1.4/4 A18-49 rating [#5]

8:00 p.m.: Smallville (2.9/5 HH rating/share, 4.56M viewers, 1.8/5 A18-49 rating/share) didn’t lose all that much audience from the week prior, especially among adults 18-49, and these are great numbers for the network. If only more of their shows, specifically the new series, performed this well the network would be in much better shape.

Week-to-week numbers (seventh season premiere):

Households – 3.1/5 to 2.9/5

Viewers – 5.18M to 4.56M

Adults 18-49 – 1.9/6 to 1.8/5

8:00 p.m.: The new year wasn’t kind for the third season premiere of Supernatural (2.0/3 HH rating/share, 2.97M viewers, 1.2/3 A18-49 rating/share). The slid was quite apparent among viewers (-960,000/-24%) and adults 18-49 (-29%). Of course those strong numbers faded over the course of last season, and those high numbers were more an affect of leading out of Smallville for the first time ever. Still, this is at best an average premiere. The one silver-lining was the increase in households and viewers when compared to last year’s season finale.

Note: Network average numbers from the week prior are based on fast national data. Comparison’s from the week prior (or episode-to-episode, etc.) on specific shows are based on final national data. Ratings for the current day are based on fast nationals. (Expect all three scenarios to be the case at all times, unless otherwise noted). The final rating for first-run episodes that aired this evening will be reported the following week. So for example, the final rating for tonights episode of “Big Brother” will be reported in next weeks report for Thursday, October 11, 2007.

Also keep in mind that because these are fast national ratings, numbers may increase or decrease when the final nationals are released.